Ignition means for explosive-engines.



G. R. WRIGHT.

IGNIUON MEANS FOR EXPLOSIVE ENGENIES.`

APPLICATION man MAL so. 19,15.

1,251,162. Patented Dee, 25,1917.

GEORGE Il. WRIGHT, OF SURREY CENTRE, BRITISH COLUMBIA,`CNADA;

IGNITION MEANS1 FOR EXPIOSIVE-ENGINES;`l

Speoicetiomof LettersYatent,

Applicationledarch 30, 1916M SeraLNo. 87,759.. f

To all whom z'tmay concern:

Beitknown that LiGEoReE R. W'Rroi-rr, a subject of` the King of England, residing atSurrey Centre, Province of BritislilfCo'-V lumbia,r Dominion `of Canada, have, invented certain neiv and useful Improvements in Ignitionl Means for. Explosive-Engines, of which thei following is a specification..

They present invention constitutes improvements. inthat type of automatic` igni-f tion devicescomlnonly called timers for in -v ternal combustioniengines. disclosed in the patent granted to F. lV.' Johnson and myself, September, 8th, 1914, No. 1,109,732.

As .is kWelliknoxvn to those skilled inthe artz tovhich this invention refers, itis ,very essentialin` the operation -cof variable speed engines thatthe sparking of the ignition circuitv'should occur in the engine cylinders, at theproper instant with respect to the` crank position..and to, accomplish this as nearly as possible, manually operated control means is usually provided in order that thefsparkf l may be advancedor retarded as the speed of the engine increases or decreases. In vieu ofthe factthat kunder proper manipulation of this `control .many advantages are derived such vas: the-increase .in ythe engine power, deereaseof carbonization of the fuel and prevention of overheating of the engine, the desirability of producingthese results by elimination of the. human element may be easily appreciated;

Therefore, Withl this end invieiv, I have provided an ignition fdevice which, coperating ,with anen gine operated shaft, ,embodies centrifugal governor devices arranged to automatically advance or retard the spark as the V,case maybe infratio with the speed of the engine,...said device consistingprimarily of a rotor, and weight members connected tot the, engine operated shaft and to the rotor aforesaid whereby under centrifugal. aotion..to. shift therotor and` consequently the relative position of the circuit contacts of` the, timer device.

For-af fullunderstandiiig of the present invention, reference isto ,be had toV thefollolwingdeseription and the accompanying drawing, `in .which Figure-1 is aiseotionalvieiv on the line 1:-1 ofFig., 2,iWith the cover for the `relativelyl 'f stationary member.A removed, ...parts Y.

benghrokenzawayjaudrshown :fused-i011.

Fig. Qis a vertical sectional view onthe line 2--2 of, I `ig.1.,

Fig 'isa perspecti'vervie'iv of the shell of the rotor, the cover and governor devices therefor -being removed.V I

Fig. 4'is a sectional'vieiv `of a modified formi of the device asf constructed to constitutea contact breaker.

Fig. is a detail vieiv of one of the governoi `Weights usedrin thisdevice; and i Fig. 6 'isa fragmentaryj.` sectional Vvview.

showing a modified a form of 'contact segment. A

Throughout the, followiiigdetail description and on .the severalfigures ofthe drawing. similar Vparts arek referred to by like;

reference,-y cli aracters.

Referring` to .the `di"awii'ig. and. specificallyVV describing the' inventiomthe numeral. 1 ,in -l di'c'ate's the.` `fa'ce.. portio'n offan engine orv other supporting part designed to receive thereag-.iinst theiignition device forming the subject matter of this application. The lnumeral 2 ,designates an en gine ,operated shaft,

and?` the relatively stationary element 0fthe timer Vdeviceinto which the shaft 2 eX-y tends andwhichmeinbenis suitably vheld against the` surface .1 by. means of a bolt' 4, and a spring'coniiected'at one end to said boltv and 'at its-other lend yto the cover 6 `for the` stationary member. Saidlcovei' as will benoted in Fig. v2, isiprovided with a central opening-T"adapted vto. receive the projection 8' on theeiid'offthe spring and preferably I employ* a; fasten-ing,.member 9 extending througliihe springrand into the easing. cover,

6 to hold the stationary member in relatively fixed position. The said *stationary member in theformof the device constitutingatimencarries a plurality of binding posts 10, one beingprovided generally for each cylinder of the enginel and these bind-4 saidshaft by means of'a key'l 'jor similari fastening device, so that said sleeve Vand in'- strnmentalities connected therewith vwill roe` Patented Dee. 25, 1917.'

tatel with the shaft 2 during the operation of the engine. A clamping nut 18 threaded on the end of the shaft 2 holds the sleeve against displacement from said shaft.

A rotor in the form of a casing' 14 is loosely `iournaled upon the sleeve 12 and is provided with a cover plate 15 secured thereon by meansof the screws or fastening members 1G, these members performing a dual function as will be set forth hereinafter. y

Mounted within the casing 14, and therefore protected from dust or oil, are arranged the speed controlling means or governor instrumentalities which consists of oppositely disposed weight members 17. Said weight members are pivotally connected by pins 18 to otfstanding` projections 19 of the sleeve 12, and in their normal position, as when the engine is inoperative, these weights extend tangentially with respect to the operating shaft 2, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. At the outer end each of said weights is provided with a slot 20 through which the cover fastening members 16 above referred to project, these members constituting guide means for the weights in the operation of the rotor so that through the pin and slot connection thus provided said rotor or casing 14 is shifted rotatably about the axis of the shaft in proportion to the speed of oreration of the shaft 2 and as determined by the centrifugal action of the said weights. The casing 14 is provided with a brush 21 projecting outwardly from the casing and seated within the holder 22, said brush being actuated by a spring 23 to normally hold its extremity in contacting relation with respect to the stationary element 3.

In the operation of this device, rotation of the shaft 2 which is actuated in a suitable manner commensurate with the speed of operation of the crank shaft of the engine, the governor devices 17 are rotated and owing to the centrifugal action incident to suoli rotation said devices or weights tend to move from their normal tangential position toward a position radial with respect to the operating shaft, as shown most clearly in dotted lines in Fig. 1. By reason of the interlocking connection between said weights and the casing, the latter is shifted as above mentioned about the axis of the shaft 2 and the extent of this relative movement depends as will be readily understood upon the speed of actuation. By reason of the peculiar mounting` of the weights as the speed of operation is reduced they tend to assume their normal tangential position, more or less.

Incidental to the shifting movement of the rotor or casing about the axis of tho shaft the brush 21 carried by said rotor is shifted so 'as to cause the closing of the primary circuit sooner or later depending upon the direction of shifting movement with the usual result of inducing a secondary current for producing the spark in the engine cylinders. y

In order to insure the normalizing action of the rotor upon reduction of speed of the engine, I provide one or more springs 24 which are connected at one end to the sleeve 12 and at the other end to the rotor casing 14. In order to overcome any difference in the weight of the opposing` governor devices 17 it is desirable that the tension of the springs 24 be adjustable and to accomplish this result the casing 14 is provided with notched segments 25 to which the respective springs 24 are connected. It will be apparent than an end of each of said springs is adjustable circumferentially of the casing` and thus the tension which will be imparted to the springs by shifting move ment of the casing under action of the governor devices is subject to control.

In Fig. 6 I have illustrated a special form of contact segment 11, said segment being made up of a plurality of materials of different resistance so that as the brush 21 passes over the segment the resistance will be increased and thereby the arc which usually occurs on the break of the circuit will be eliminated. I desire it t-o be understood that I do not wish to be confined to this particular construction of segment for carrying out said object as the same effect may be produced in other ways than that illustrated and described in this application.

In Fig. 4 is shown a different type of ignition meansl which, however, follows the same general principle of construction as is embodied in the type shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. That is to say, the device of Fig. 4 is designed as a circuit breaker and consists of the relatively stationary member 3a which is provided with a binding post 10a formed with a shell 22a in which the spring actuated brush 21u is mounted. The rotor 14n in this type of device is provided with the segments 11b formed of insulating material two of such segments being shown in the drawing. It will be readily understood that as the rotor 14L is operated the circuit will be broken upon passing of the brush ,21L over the segments 11b.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. Ignition means for internal combustion engines comprising a relatively stationary member., a rotating member within the latter, an engine operated shaft on which said rotating member is journaled. centrifugaliy operated speed controlled means connected to said shaft at one end and having connection with the rotating member at the other end whereby to shift the latter about the axis of the shaft commensurate with the speed thereof and relatively with respect to the" stationary member, and a circuit contact member intermediate the stationary and rotati'ng members opemblef-by rthe rotating member aforesaid.

QVIgnition means for `internal combustion engines comprising a relatively stationaryy member.- afrotating member 'Within the latter, an engine operated shaft on which said rotating member is journ'aled,v speed 'cone trolled means having swinging connection with said shaft and having radially shiftable connection With the rotating member permitting movement of said means about the swinging connection into position substantially radial With respect to the shaft, to thereby shift the rotating member relative to said shaft and relative also to the stationary member, and circuit control means intermediate the stationary and rotating members adapted to be shifted automati* cally upon relative movement of the rotating member aforesaid.

3. Ignition means for internal combustion engines comprising a relatively stationary member, a rotating member, an engine operated shaft on Which said rotating member is journaled, a centrifugally operated governor device movably connected to the shaft and normally arranged substantially tangential With respect thereto, means connecting said device to the rotating member whereby on movement of said governor device toward a radial position under actu ation of the shaft the rotating member is shifted relative to the latter, and guide means for guiding the radial movement of the governor device.

4. Ignition means for internal combustion engines comprising a relatively stationary member, a rotating member, an engine operated shaft on which said rotating member is journaled, a governor device having pivotal connection at one end with the shaft, said device being movable circumferentially at. its other end, and a pin and slot connection intermediate the said. other end of the governor device and the rotating member for shifting the latter relative to the shaft on pivotal movement of the governor device incident to actuation of said shaft.

5. Ignition means for internal combustion engines comprising a relatively stationary member, a rotating member therein, an engine operated shaft on which said rotating member is journaled, speed controlled means connected to said shaft and having connection With the rotating member Whereby to relatively shift the latter about the axis of the shaft commensurate with the speed thereof, and tension means connecting the rotating member with the shaft for insuring normalizing of the latter.

6. Ignition means for internal combustion engines comprising a relatively stationary member, a rotating member, an engine operatedv shaft: on Whichsaid rotating member is` con'nnensurate with the speed .thereof,. and

tension means connected at one end to the shaft and adjustably connected to the rotating member at its' other end for con trolling relative movement of the rotating member under control of the speed control means.

7. Ignition means for internal combustion engines comprising a relatively stationary member, a rotor disposed therein and comprising a casing, an engine operated shaft on which said casing is loosely journaled, govenor Weights arranged Within the casing and connected to the shaft, guide means carried by said casing and cooperating with the Weights aforesaid whereby to relatively shi 't the casing about the axis of the shaft commensurate with the speed of rotation of said shaft, and a circuit contact member carried by said casing and coperating with the stationary member aforesaid under control of the governor Weights.

8. Ignition means for internal combustion engines comprising a relatively stationary member, a rotor housed Within said member and comprising a casing, a removable cover for said casing, fastening means for connecting the cover thereto, an engine operated shaft on which said easing is mounted, speed control devices mounted within said casing and coperating with the fastening means for said cover, and an operative connection intermediate said control devices and the engine operated shaft,

whereby to shift the casing relative to the shaft upon actuation thereof.

9. Ignition means for internal combustion engines comprising a relatively stationary member, a rotating member, an engine operaed shaft on which said rotating member is journaled, speed controlled means connected te said shaft and having connection With the rotating member whereby to relatively shift the latter about the axis of the shaft commensurate with the speed thereof, a sleeve fixed to said shaft and constituting a bearing for the casing, and means pivotally connecting said speed control devices to the sleeve.

10. Ignition means for internal combustion engines comprising a relatively stationary member having contact segments disposed thereon, a rotor coacting with said stationary member, a brush carried by said rotor for cooperation with said segments, an engine operated shaft on which said rotor is mounted, means for shifting said rotor relatively about the axis of said shaft upon actuation thereof, and tension means connected to the shaft at one end and having circumferentially adjustable connection with the rotor at the other end for controlling the shifting action of said rotor.

1l. Ignition means for internal combus- 5' tion engines comprising a relatively stationary member, a rotating member, and a governor device for controlling` shifting move* nient of the rotating member with respect to the stationary member and including opposing radially and circumferentially shiftable elements.

In testimony whereof I alix my signa ture.

GEORGE R. WRIGHT.

Copies o! this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C, 

